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(weather.com)
A new poll released Wednesday shows a majority of Americans "believe that global warming made several high profile extreme weather events worse."
The study is titled: "Extreme Weather, Climate & Preparedness in the American Mind" and it was conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.
Among their findings:
- 82 percent of Americans report that they personally experienced one or more types of extreme weather or a natural disaster in the past year;
- 35 percent of all Americans report that they were personally harmed either a great deal or a moderate amount by one or more of these extreme weather events in the past year;
- By a margin of over 2 to 1 (52% vs. 22%) Americans say the weather in the U.S. has been getting worse -- rather than better -- over the past several years;
- A large majority of Americans believe that global warming made several high profile extreme weather events worse, including:The unusually warm winter of December 2011 and January 2012 (72%); Record high summer temperatures in the U.S. in 2011 (70%); The drought in Texas and Oklahoma in 2011 (69%)
- Record snowfall in the U.S. in 2010 and 2011 (61%); The Mississippi River floods in the spring of 2011 (63%); Hurricane Irene (59%)
- Only 36 percent of Americans have a disaster emergency plan that all members of their family know about or an emergency supply kit in their home (37%).
(AP Photo/The Press of Atlantic City, Ben Fogletto)